Success was had at this year’s Women in Technology Awards. In the first of its kind, saw the event hosted virtually across Australia, on Friday 9 October, for an evening showcasing the outstanding achievements of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers.
From discussions on how COVID-19 has affected our everyday world, changing how we operate, to lightening the mood with comedic relief, one thing wove its way through the evening—how we show one another how each person’s work affects us positively.
The evening saw Mater Research’s sponsored category the ‘Employer of Choice Small/Medium Business’ category announce the winner, SixPivot.
Professor Allison Pettit announced the category winner on the night.
“Congratulations SixPivot on being the champion for your people! Creating a flexible workplace from day one with foresight to keep employees engaged, SixPivot has consistently supported employees on a journey of working wherever and whenever through a transparent culture of trust and outcomes rather than office space and 9-5 work days. SixPivot have established a mentoring program to grow talent in a supportive and guiding manner. They encourage pay equality with transparent salary ranges. Staff incentives are equal across all levels of employees and years of service are rewarded equally.”
SixPivot have built a company of exceptionally talented software developers ranking among the best in the world. Their CEO and Founder focuses on each unique person and those values permeate throughout the company. And what makes them so forward thinking and progressive, is that they are entirely led, managed and owned by women.
“We are so humbled and grateful to win the Small/Medium Employer of Choice Award, particularly in 2020 when more than ever businesses have been challenged by COVID-19. It was my purposeful intention to build a company that supported people as individuals first, to enable them to bring their best selves to work by creating a place that supports their career aspirations and their home life, winning this award is recognition of our achievements. We continue to strive to push the boundaries of traditional work and find new and creative ways to support our team and attract the most talented people across the globe,” said SIXPIVOT CEO and Founder, Faith Rees.
As a past winner of this award, Mater Research hopes that this award gives the support to SixPivot to expand even more.
In a surprise twist, Genie Solutions was presented with the Highly Commended Award.
“Congratulations Genie Solutions on your focus to get it right at every level! With a deliberate approach on inclusion and bringing a diverse workforce together, Genie Solutions performs pay gap analysis annually. They offer all staff annual health checks and skin checks with powerful outcomes and are invested in leadership programs and learning and development courses for all staff. Genie Solutions are known for having the most amazing team of people that have been committed to developing software to help medical professionals run their practices for over 20 years,” announced Professor Pettit.
The competition was fierce from the evening’s Outstanding Achievement Science Award (sponsored by QUT) between the four finalists, experts in fields marine biology, statistical genetics, Haematology and stillbirth research.
A surprised/delighted Professor Vicki Flenady was awarded the prestigious title, of this year’s Outstanding Achievement Science Award, recognising her dedication in stillbirth research.
Professor Flenady, a Senior Research Fellow and an experienced perinatal epidemiologist, is globally recognised as a leader in stillbirth research. Currently, she is the Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre for Research Excellence in Stillbirth (CRE) based at Mater. In her role, Professor Flenady works alongside other CRE Mater Research investigators, working to reduce the number of stillbirths that occur after 28 weeks’ gestation by 20%. The CRE continues to reduce stillbirth rates and to do so has launched the Safer Baby Bundle in 2019, a national e-Learning program for maternity health professionals, aimed at reducing stillbirth rates by 20 per cent by 2023.
“This award means that the work I do, with Mater Research and CRE, is being recognised nationally. Stillbirth is still a largely shunned, often avoidable, traumatic experience in the lives of one in 72 families globally. With this award it is my hope that more light gets shed on stillbirth rates, and works to help decrease them,” said Professor Vicki Flenady.
For more information please visit the Women in Technology (WiT) website.